British selling house ambassador never moved
into

The British government is to sell Marlay Grange, the Rathfarnham
house it acquired as a new ambassadorial residence in 2000 but
never used. The 10-bedroom Victorian house on 12 acres at Grange
Road, Dublin 16, was purchased by the British Foreign Office for
around €9 million.

The purchase of the house followed the sale of its then
residence Glencairn and its 34-acre grounds in Sandyford in 1999
for security and operational reasons to Park Developments for
€35.6 million. Since then Glencairn has been rented back by
the foreign office for its ambassadors.

Marlay Grange, which once formed part of the Marlay House
estate, was in need of extensive refurbishment when it was bought.
Almost €1 million has been spent on renovations to date.
Property sources currently value Marlay Grange and its 12 acres at
around €10 million.

Then the British Foreign Office decided it wanted to buy back
Glencairn without its grounds - a decision prompted by the improved
security climate following the signing of the Belfast
Agreement.

The British embassy told The Irish Times yesterday that the
"British government has decided not to renovate Marlay Grange and
will be putting the property on the market".

Colliers Jackson-Stops, which acts for the embassy, would not
comment on the recent announcement. The British Embassy also
confirmed that it is in negotiations with the owner of Glencairn to
buy back the house and some surrounding gardens.

In 2004 a British House of Commons Foreign Affairs committee
ruled that the foreign office's U-turn on Glencairn resulted in the
loss of a potential profit of at least €5.86 million.

The committee said "serious mistakes" had been made in the sale
and attempts to buy back Glencairn resulting in the loss of
millions of pounds to the British taxpayer.